Strait of Hormuz NASA MODIS satellite image
Credit: NASA/Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

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Iran's Supreme National Security Council delivered a sweeping list of preconditions Saturday that Tehran says must be met before the Strait of Hormuz can reopen to maritime traffic — a move that threw the fate of the world's most critical energy shipping lane into fresh uncertainty, just over a week before a 60-day negotiating deadline is set to expire.

The statement, published by Iranian state media, was issued by Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Per the council's demands, Washington must permanently end the war with Iran and all its regional allies, lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdraw U.S. military forces from the broader area, “completely compensate” Iran for all war damage, lift all sanctions on Tehran, and “unconditionally” release Iran's frozen assets abroad. The statement also stipulated that the United States must never threaten Iran again.

The list is maximalist and, on its face, incompatible with the current U.S. negotiating position. Washington has insisted that an acceptable deal on the strait itself must come first before any broader concessions — including lifting the blockade on Iranian ports. The interim memorandum of understanding signed in June had laid out a framework in which sanctions relief and compensation planning would be part of a final agreement, with frozen assets addressed through ongoing negotiation. Tehran is now demanding the endgame be delivered before the strait opens.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking separately Saturday, said the two sides were “close” to reaching a narrower technical agreement with Oman on navigation specifics and transit routing through the strait. But Araghchi made clear that the waterway’s physical reopening remained contingent on the broader political conditions — and he blamed the impasse on what he characterized as a U.S. violation of the June interim deal. Per Araghchi’s remarks shared on social media, a route determination could be finalized soon; the reopening could not.

Oman, which has served as a quiet mediator between Washington and Tehran for months, issued a carefully worded statement Saturday saying discussions were continuing “in a positive and constructive atmosphere.” Muscat also condemned ongoing attacks on shipping in the strait — a pointed message given that the UAE simultaneously reported that a vessel owned by Abu Dhabi state-owned oil company ADNOC was struck by an Iranian missile while transiting the waterway. The UAE Foreign Ministry said Iran fired the missile; Tehran had no immediate public comment on the incident.

The strait, roughly 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, is the transit route for approximately 30 percent of the world’s seaborne oil supply, per historical shipping data. Since the conflict began, ship transits have remained far below pre-war levels. The Biden-era designation of the strait as an international waterway has been rendered largely theoretical; operational control remains contested. The 60-day window for negotiating a final deal, set under the June interim agreement, expires in just over a week but could be extended by mutual agreement.

There was no immediate public comment from the White House or State Department Saturday in response to Tehran’s expanded demand list. The question of who pays for what, and when, has always been the fault line beneath the Hormuz negotiations. Iran is now forcing that fault line to the surface before any transit agreement is signed.

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